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Kansas House Committee Passes Campus Religious Freedom Bill

A Kansas House committee has approved a controversial bill that's aimed at protecting religious groups on college campuses. Opponents have raised concerns that the bill sanctions discrimination by student groups.

Republican Representative Steven Becker says universities and student groups already have a good relationship in place and have worked out issues on their own.


“We need to stay out of it. We need to just back off, let things go because we aren’t having any problems in Kansas,” says Becker.
 
Supporters say the legislation protects the rights of religious student groups. The proposal says universities can’t take action against religious groups that want to exclude people who don’t share their beliefs.

Republican Representative Steve Brunk says it’s about preventing future problems.


“You can be proactive, or you can wait for incidents to occur and then you have to be reactive, which is far more difficult to do, frankly,” says Brunk.

 

The bill will now go the full House for consideration. It has already passed the Kansas Senate.

 

 

Stephen Koranda is KPR's Statehouse reporter.